Legal Research With Wikipedia?

The New York Times reports that both federal and state courts are now citing to Wikipedia as authority for any number of statements in their opinions.

I did a search of one of the online databases with the term “Wikipedia” and turned up 103 results to see how courts cite to Wikipedia and how they use the online encyclopedia. Amazingly, sometimes, they use it to verify a source when citing to the source itself would do just as well. For example, “(The Physicians’ Desk Reference is a commercially published compilation of manufacturers’ prescribing information on prescription drugs, updated annually. Wikipedia,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician’s_Desk_Reference.)” Peters v. Astrazeneca, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38859; CCH Prod. Liab. Rep. P17,540 (U.S.D.C., W.D. Wisc., 2006)). If you need to verify the description and publication information of the PDR, look in the PDR. For descriptions of the purpose of federal agencies, courts turn to Wikipedia (Hansen v. Wis. Dep’t of Revenue, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37936). Why not turn to the U. S. Government Manual? If one doesn’t want to search through a paper copy, search online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html. They cite to Wikipedia for definitions, such as the meaning of the word levee (In re Ingram Barge Co., 435 F. Supp. 2d 524 (U.S.D.C. E.D. La. (2006)). Why not simply look up the word in a dictionary? Why rely on an unnamed (and perhaps unreliable) source? In Alvarez Perez v. Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94862 we have this helpful definition quoted: “Greyhound races are sports events. See Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyhound_racing (“Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds.”); see also Marshall v. New Hampshire Jockey Club, Inc., 562 F.2d 1323, 1328 (1st Cir. 1977) (identifying thoroughbred racing and harness racing as sports). As such, greyhound races “are among those types of recreational activities specifically considered by Congress to be covered by the [FLSA’s exemption for seasonal recreational establishments].” Jeffery, 64 F.3d at 595.”

Disturbingly, federal courts also cite to Wikipedia for substantive information, such as the meaning of Muslim ritual (Perez v. Frank, 433 F. Supp. 2d 955 (W.D. Wisc., 2006)).